Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School is a highly inclusive and supportive school where pupils are safe, happy and achieve well. The school has high expectations, strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and a clear focus on continuous improvement. Behaviour is exceptionally good, and pupils are respectful, polite and well prepared for life in modern Britain through a wide range of enrichment and leadership opportunities. The curriculum is ambitious and begins in the early years, with a strong culture of reading and precise phonics teaching. Staff are well trained, morale is high, and leaders have carefully considered workload and wellbeing. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has recently refined some curriculum areas, and in these newer designs, tasks do not always build well enough on pupils' prior knowledge, which limits the depth of subject-specific learning in some instances. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its previous inspection grade was good. It is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Bexley, part of the Archdiocese of Southwark, with 415 pupils aged 3 to 11.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school where every pupil is valued and well supported.
• Pupils are safe, happy and behave exceptionally well.
• Strong, ambitious curriculum from early years with clear knowledge and vocabulary.
• Very effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Strong reading culture with precise phonics teaching and effective catch-up support.
• High-quality staff training and careful consideration of workload and wellbeing.
• Wide range of enrichment, leadership and charity opportunities that prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.

Areas for Improvement

• In some newly designed curriculum areas, tasks do not build well on pupils' prior knowledge, limiting the depth of subject-specific learning.
• Progression through some curriculum areas is not as strong as the school intends.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.4% of pupils at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School had 19.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.8% of pupils at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School received £6,782 and spent £7,193 for each of its 394 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £402,000 (£1,022 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bexley · Bexley local authority: places and applications

What is Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School have?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School has 397 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School cover?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School?

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School is at Holbeach Gardens, Blackfen, Sidcup, Kent, DA15 8QW.